The gadget geek in me is jumping up and down, but so is the designer side of me. It’s very cool to read about and look at photos of past technology, crazy inventions, and (what were) futuristic ideas. At the same time, it is amazing to compare the designs from various dates such as 1874, 1940, 1972, and 2010. Design and the technology printing those designs was constantly changing as well. People were creating new ways to share ideas and information. Layouts changed from plain, standard column text to full page ads and articles with lots of photos and flexible regions of text.

Something that everyone should check out: Popular Science Archives

Share/Bookmark

Share/Bookmark

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_iN_QubRs0

Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody, speaks on TED about changing media. I’ve posted his talk above: How cellphones, Twitter, Facebook can change history.

The talk itself is very interesting. I was a little surprised at how much time was spent on how media affected a few isolated events. The talk repeated the same message that I’ve been reading in articles all over the internet lately. That’s the idea that media has gone from a one-to-one relationship to a one-to-many and finally to the many-to-many relationship that we have today. At one time people could talk to one another. Then TV networks, radio show hosts, or columnists could reach out and deliver a message to a broader audience. Today millions of people can literally communicate with millions of other people with all sorts of different messages. Not only can a person talk to a person, but an organized (or unorganized) group can interact with another group thousands of miles away if they’d like to. Shirky states that we have had the “largest increase in expressive capability in human history.”

Shirky mostly touched on Twitter and a tiny bit on text messaging. I didn’t actually catch any mention of Facebook. I think it’s just assumed that it’s included as one of the biggest networks that people can communicate through. I thought one specific quote was especially interesting.

These tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. It isn’t when the shiny new tools show up that their uses start permeating society, it’s when everybody is able to take them for granted.

It seems that this is entirely the case. Most people are still acting like Facebook is a brand new network, when really it’s been around since the beginning months of 2004. It just seems new and exciting because everyone and his brother is now a member. Or Twitter. Twitter is already three years old. It wasn’t until the end of 2008 or early 2009 that Twitter really started being dropped in conversations. In either case, both networks are now mentioned daily, if not hourly on news stations and throughout personal conversations.

As Shirky says,

The question we all face now is how can we make best use of this media even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it?

As I had touched on in a previous post, Social Media -- Where Is It Headed?, more and more people feel the literal need to get involved. This of course leads to what Shirky touched upon -- more and more of the “producers” of content are amateurs. Every second, people are connecting to new networks and adding content to those to which they already belong. Are we going to hit a breaking point? How are we supposed to filter this media, or are we?

Share/Bookmark

There are videos in a variety of different categories. What I most enjoyed were the videos on advertising, marketing, and the spread of information on the internet. This is why I love the internet, social media, and digital media. There is so much information out there. I can’t get enough of how much there is to learn, how easy it is to get your hands on practically any information, and how people display it. Whether it’s videos, websites, photos, blogs, etc. The variety and depth of material is astounding. Check out the video from my last post if you don’t get where I’m coming from. Amazing.

Share/Bookmark

I guess that’s all on that for now. It’s been full steam for two days getting it where I wanted it. Time for a breather.

Share/Bookmark

dafont.com – Not only are the downloads PC/Mac friendly, but each font is categorized based on its look and feel. I really like the Eroded, Distorted, and Destroy categories. The one downside to the site is that more often than not, the search is broken. Usually it’s not too big of a deal because of the categories.

fontsquirrel.com – This is an excellent site that I somehow came across. Every font is free and is licensed for commercial use. The administrators of the site hand-pick the fonts that they deem especially great which is greatly appreciated since one of the downsides of trying to find good fonts is weeding through all of the not-so-great selections. The site has a featured section right up front and from there you can also select a style and format to browse.

myfonts.com & fontfont.com – Great sites, but only a select few are ever free. If you need to locate a specific font for a job or such, I’d start here, if not at Adobe or Fonts.com. Just be prepared to pay a bundle.

smashingmagazine.com – Smashing Magazine is just awesome, all the way around. Not only are they a great resource for free images, fonts, icons, etc., they have awesome tutorials and articles on everything from XHTML tactics to how to improve your tweeting habits. There are three great articles I’ll mention, but there’s a whole slue more if you search for the tag “fonts.”
15 Fresh High-Quality Free Fonts
15 Beautiful High-Quality Free Fonts
40 Excellent Free Fonts For Professional Design
More (Fonts tag)

Share/Bookmark

I’m guessing almost everyone out there, has at some point, needed to resize a folder full of photos. Whether it be a photographer, a web designer, a mom making an album, or a user posting to Facebook. In most cases, these people may or may not have access to Photoshop. If you do have access to Photoshop, there is a simple Image Processor, which in a few clicks, can resize, recolor, etc. a whole slew of photos. Simply follow these steps:

1. File
2. Scripts
3. Image Processor
4. Choose the folder were the images reside
5. Choose what you want to do (Resize, Change Extension, etc.)
6. Run
7. Sit back and smile as your images change in front of your eyes

Next. Name Mangler from Many Tricks (for OS X 10.5). They claim “renaming files has never been easier” and they are absolutely right. With Name Mangler all you do is select Folder, Folder Contents or Files and then drag and drop whatever it is you need to adjust. Soon as you do that, the files appear and next you need to select what you want to do: Find and Replace, Number Sequentially, Change Case, Set Extension, Add Prefix/Suffix, or Remove/Insert Characters. The app shows you what the current names are and what they will become. If you’re all set, you just click a check mark and presto!

These two items are specifically useful to me because I get clients who send me folder and folders of images to turn into photo galleries. I simply send them through the PS image processor with new size restraints and an extension preference. Then I can run them through the Name Mangler to change the extension case and set them to rename to sequential numbers. Once this is done, they are ordered and ready to be entered into an XML file. Tada!

Share/Bookmark

With that said, at first I didn’t take it seriously. One day I tried out one of those sites that check to see if your username is taken on various networks. I had already used ‘mepriestley’ for all of the major sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc. There was a whole list of very obscure sites, some that I’d heard of, but even more that I hadn’t heard of. I figured, eh, why not? There might arise a situation where I need the account and I’d like to have my usual username. Plus, I’d rather it be me that comes up for ‘mepriestley’ then someone else.

One of those sites was CouchSurfing.com. I filled out the sign-up information, but left my “couch” closed for the time being. It happens that my friend, Kevin, just recently used CouchSurfing to stay with a whole group of people in Norway. He said it was great. Of course, this instantly reminded me of my profile and I decided to look into the whole thing a little closer.

I started searching for surfers and reading reviews and profiles. The whole thing is very impressive. What’s more exciting is that I have been really itching to take John (and possibly his boys) to DC this summer. I love DC and they haven’t really been anywhere. I think this trip might actually be possible with CouchSurfing. There’s quite a few reliable people in the area, as well as a very affordable National Park in case that doesn’t work out. On a side note, I couldn’t believe that there is a really nice National Park with camping, showers, etc. within 10 miles of DC (1 mile from the subway).

As I get back on topic, I love that there is a site like CouchSurfing.com out there. I have been somewhat disappointed at how closed off people can seem. I am so excited to see that people reach out to host and surf around the world. I can’t wait to host our first surfer (if anyone ever needs to actually come to or go through Bradford). Even more, I can’t wait to try surfing and see all of the things that John and I want to see, but can’t necessarily afford otherwise. Yay!

Share/Bookmark

So, it all started when I friend of mine ( @kevinohashi ), mentioned that he’d tried a thing called miracle berries. He said they were this cool berry that made things taste really good. I was thinking, eh, that’s cool, but didn’t think much else of it. One day, a few weeks later, I was browsing around for any new products on ThinkGeek.com. Low and behold….Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets.

So of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I just had to order them. The ones that came from ThinkGeek were small, round tablets and cost about $1.50 per tablet or $15.00 for a pack of 10. A friend of mine and I did the first trial with some sour drinks we ordered from a bar. They of course, tasted like a really sweet fruit juice – dangerous if you ask me . Then, my friend, Winn, decided to try the lemon that was wedged on the side of his glass…all of a sudden he attacked the thing, claiming it tasted amazing. My boyfriend, John and I tried some lemons, limes, grapefruit, and oranges one night after dinner and they all tasted fantastic. I thought grapefruit was especially tasty. We tried it a few more times. I tried it with grapefruit a few more times (I couldn’t help it, it tastes so sweet). I told everyone I could about the berries. Most people thought it was interesting, but didn’t really take it seriously.

I had read about “taste-tripping” parties online, even in the NYTimes, in an article entitled, The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Taste Buds. I found a few sites where you could sign up for invites to secret parties and such. But I wanted to have one of my own. Time went by and I hadn’t had one, until March came around and I wanted to do something for my birthday. As much as the ThinkGeek berries worked, I wanted to see if I could get a better deal. I went to the site Miracle Fruit World where they linked to several retailers. The most trustworthy looking site was Sour2Sweet.com. They also had several sizes that I hadn’t seen before. They had both a regular (about the same size as the ThinkGeek ones for $12.95 per package of 10) or a large ($14.95 per package of 10). The large ones looked about double the size, so I figured, why not? I ordered 5 packages. The nice thing about Sour2Sweet is that no matter how many packages of their Miracle Frooties you order, the shipping is a low, set price. (Note: Also, Sour2Sweet Customer Service is incredible. I had several questions both before I ordered and one to check on my order and I got quick, enthusiastic replies each time.)

They arrived about a week later (but I think it would’ve been shorter had I not ordered on a weekend). I kept them in a cool, dry place until the party. I invited about 12 people and bought quite a bit of fruit and other foods. Here’s a quick run-down of the things to test:
Strawberries            Kiwis                             Tomatoes
Raspberries             Rhubarb                        Chevre (goat cheese)
Oranges                    Grapefruit                     Yogurt (homemade plain)
Lemons                    Blackberries                  Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips
Limes                        Radishes                        Green Grapes
Sour Cream             Hot Sauce                      Baker’s Chocolate (Unsweetened)
Lemon Juice            Fresh Pineapple           Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce

Before everyone tried the berries, I gave them a quick run down on exactly what they were about to put into their mouth. First, I assured them that the tablet is not a drug. Luckily I’m a very trust-worthy, goodie-two-shoes, so I didn’t have a problem convincing them of that. Second, the berries were first documented as being found in West Africa and they’re small berries are a little bit bigger than a coffee bean. I told them that the berry contains a protein called miraculin which binds with the tongue’s tastebuds, causing sour/bitter foods to taste sweet. The effect lasts about 15 minutes and the cause of the reaction is pretty much unknown; it’s a “miracle” . Many of them were interested when I went into a short history of the berry being introduced into the US. The berry was very close once to being marketed, but each time, the FDA denied it (most likely due to pressure from the sugar/candy industry). You can get the actual berries online, but they cost about $3 a piece and rot very fast. The tablets seem like the best way to go because they are half the price and can last up to 18 months. I let them all know that hot foods would dissolve the effect and that it was a great idea for dieters, chemotherapy patients, or diabetics, because a lot of healthy, fruits and vegetables taste really good. They were sold. Or at least they humored me and trusted that they weren’t going to die.

Out of 14 people, 12 tried the berries. Only 1 person said that it didn’t affect them (they might’ve been playing it up). Everyone at least thought it was really cool. About 6 of us went for a second round of testing. One person, who enjoyed it very much, would’ve gone for a second round, but was a little scared when she noticed that her heart rate went up. I assured her that I had read a lot of material and had found the only side effect can be people consuming too much acid, resulting in heart burn or mouth sores. Being a biology teacher, she agreed that it was most likely her own anxiety that spurred from being worked up by thinking about what might happen when she tried an unknown (to her) tablet. So note to anyone – relax. It’s not a drug, and the fruit’s protein only lasts for about 15 minutes. It can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, but if you do not like how the berry alters the taste of things, you can simply swish some warm water in your mouth and the warmth should “melt” off the coating on your tongue.

The funny thing that a lot of people soon realized after testing fruits is that anything bitter or sour tasted very sweet, sweet things were almost too sweet, and everything, no matter what it was, smelled exactly the same (which was very disconcerting). My personal favorites from the party were raspberries (like heaven), rhubarb (like candy), and anything with sour cream on it. I tried strawberries, pineapple and grapes with sour cream and it tasted like they were covered in really thick, a really good cream cheese/cool whip mix. Yummy!

There’s a few of the items on that list that didn’t really change…but I won’t take the fun out of it. I hear beer (Guiness especially), tastes like chocolate, but we did not have any alcohol at my party, so I haven’t tried it yet. One thing I would like to try is sugar, but I keep forgetting to try it because it’s not something I’d think would be worthwhile with the berry. Apparently it loses all taste and simply feels like sand in your mouth. Interesting.

In any case, it’s an awesome experience. Great for parties, especially where not everyone knows each other (great ice breaking experience to share). The only real difference I noticed between the berry tablets I ordered is that the ThinkGeek tablets are just enough and dissolve fast. The Miracle Frooties from Sour2Sweet are much bigger, and I think are therefore much stronger. The only thing is that they take much more time to dissolve and we all found it best to slightly chew on the tablets to break them up in order for them to dissolve faster. In any case, I’d go with the Sour2Sweet tablets because they are bigger and when you’re paying roughly $1.50/per tablet, why not get more for your money? Try it out and enjoy!

I linked to several articles in the beginning, but here’s a few links for those interested:

PICTURES HERE – Pictures From My Party on Picasa – http://picasaweb.google.com/mepriestley/TasteTrippingBirthdayParty
Miracle Fruit – Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit
Miracle Berry Fruit Tablets – ThinkGeek – http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-candy/ab3f/
The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Taste Buds – New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html
General Overview & Retailers – Miracle Fruit World – http://www.miraclefruitworld.com/?gclid=CM_8pfKn0pkCFQ_yDAodlBsLug
Miracle Fruit Tablets – Sour2Sweet – http://sour2sweet.com/
‘Miracle Fruit’ Turns Sour Things Sweet – CNN – http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/25/miracle.berries.weightloss/

Click the picture for the full Picasa Web Album

Share/Bookmark

Many comments in the Engadget or Gizmodo blogs said something along the lines of “when’s it coming to Mac?”, “something else I can’t use on my Mac”, “too bad it’s not coming to Mac”, etc. But since when did people not hear that they can run Windows on a Mac? I have Windows XP installed on both my BootCamp partition, as well as the virtual machine in Parallels. I haven’t bothered to use the third party apps with XP on BootCamp because it works extremely well through Parallels while I keep all my Mac apps open at the same time. Come on now people!

Only thing about running it through Parallels, as I mentioned in my previous entry is that it of course, shares the RAM so running apps on the Mac side sometimes causes PlayOn or other XP app to stutter a little. But it runs just fine. I can’t remember if it’s TVersity or PlayOn, but one of them needed there to be at least 512MB of RAM to run…I just ramped up Parallel’s allowance to 768MB. It worked out just fine.

Share/Bookmark